On an old brownfield site west of Sudbury, earth-moving equipment has started carving out the early structure of what will eventually become the city's newest nickel-copper mine.
Work on Magna Mining's Crean Hill project, located about a 30-minute drive west of Sudbury, got underway in mid-July. A warm, sunny afternoon on July 18 gave company executives the perfect opportunity to show off their development plans to a group of visitors.
Gathered at the on-site trailer for a pre-tour safety lesson and debriefing, the enthusiasm was palpable amongst the guests, which included government officials, economic development reps, and media.
“There's been lots of excitement here over the last week or so, mobilizing the surface contractor, ADLP, and getting the work started,” said Jeff Huffman, Magna Mining's chief operating officer, an array of ore samples spread out on a table before him.
"So we want to get you out to site and take a look at that.”
It's not hard to see why the company is so optimistic about the project.
A past-producing nickel-copper mine formerly owned by INCO (now Vale), Crean Hill has a mineral resource estimate of more than 30 million tonnes, including 14.5 million tonnes of high-grade underground resources.
The cost to develop the mine was estimated at $48 million, according to the company's 2023 preliminary economic assessment, while the mine life is predicted at 15 to 19 years.
“Thousands of kilometres of drilling” has been done at the site over the last several decades. Magna Mining has contributed about 30,000 metres of that, Huffman said.
“But as you can see,” he explained, gesturing to a digital rendering of past drill results displayed during the briefing, “there's a hundred years of drill information.
“So we have a pretty good idea of what that ore deposit looks like and what's remaining within the mine for us to come in and mine.”
There are visible remnants of the former mine workings.
Large piles of waste rock are scattered around the property, along with a leftover tailings pond abutting the road in to the property, just off Fairbanks Road. A now-empty nesting box, perched high atop a tower overlooking the waste piles, might have been erected as part of early conservation effort by Magna's predecessor.
After acquiring Crean Hill from Lonmin Canada in late 2022, Magna Mining moved quickly through the pre-development process, filing its closure plan in the third quarter of 2023, and receiving its final ministry approvals in April of this year.
Huffman attributed the fast-tracking, in part, to a good working relationship with Vale, but also because of the existing infrastructure, like power and wastewater treatment facilities nearby.
“Everything is here,” he said against a backdrop of giant rock piles that are set to dwindle in shape and scope as the project advances in the coming weeks.
“We're in the middle of the Sudbury basin, so there's no better place to build a mine.”
Development is planned for two phases.
In phase one, which got underway this week, ADLP will extract 20,000 tonnes from Crean Hill's 109 footwall deposit, which will then be trucked to Glencore's Strathcona Mill in Levack for processing and metallurgical testing.
Huffman expects that to run about eight weeks, wrapping up in the first week of September.
“It's a pretty short project,” Huffman said.
“But this catapults us into phase two … which is the portal that will go down into the underground."
That will mark the official start of commercial production, he added.
Magna has already signed an off-take agreement to sell the first 400,000 tonnes of that ore to Vale Base Metals, which will be processed at the company's Clarabelle Mill.
Huffman said it's a "big accomplishment for us as a junior (miner)” to establish relationships with both Vale and Glencore — Sudbury's two major mining companies.
“It's part of the future for us,” he said. “It's making sure that we're working alongside not only the major companies, but other stakeholders in Sudbury, including our partners at ADLP, our First Nation partners, and the community.”
In addition to Crean Hill, Magna also owns the Shakespeare property, a past-producing nickel-copper-palladium mine situated 70 kilometres southwest of Sudbury.
Magna CEO Jason Jessup, believes the company will be adding to its land holdings in time.
The company has regularly been in contact with Vale, Glencore and KGHM about their non-core assets, he said, and Magna will be looking at some that “we think are as good as Crean Hill or better” for their future mining potential.
It's all part of the company's plan to help supply the country's critical minerals supply chain, he added, while establishing itself as the newest homegrown miner on the block.
“We're really proud to be part of the Sudbury economy; we look forward to hiring more people in Sudbury,” Jessup said.
“Our headquarters are in Sudbury, the majority of our team are here, and we are going to be growing. It's very exciting.”
